Hermosa, Manhattan Holiday Toy Drive drop off weekends
Supporters of the 19th annual Hermosa Beach Manhattan Beach Cities Toy Drive will be accepting new, unwrapped toys at the Hermosa Beach City Hall parking lot on Saturday, Dec. 4 and Dec. 11., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (The traditional toy wrapping party will not be held this year, because of the pandemic). Toys […]
Hermosa Beach council wants earlier meetings
by Dan Blackburn Action on a proposal to alter the start time of future city council meetings and restrict certain public communications on meeting agendas was delayed again Tuesday by the Hermosa Beach City Council. The plan has been shuffling along for months and was most recently discussed at a weekend retreat by council members. […]
Initiative seeks to overturn ban on cannabis retailers in Hermosa Beach
by Dan Blackburn Hermosa Beach resident Colton Chacker filed a request with city officials last week for permission to circulate an initiative to legalize retail cannabis sales within the city. Chacker plans to begin gathering qualifying signatures in mid-December. The initiative is funded by the Economic Development Reform Coalition of Southern California, which has similar […]
Council 86s Hermosa Saloon
By Dan Blackburn An appeal by the owner of Hermosa Beach’s only stand-alone bar for a lower tax rate was denied Tuesday by the City Council by a unanimous vote. Ken Garmoe, whose Hermosa Saloon has been a fixture on Pacific Coast Highway for 46 years, told the council his establishment should be taxed as […]
Resin Gallery hosts holiday art show
by Daniel Blackburn The SB Artist Collective, Resin Gallery, and Creative Wisdom Tools are uniting under the name South Bay Artist for an exhibit at Resin Gallery on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 5 p[.m. Nearly 50 local artists and photographers, including high school artists from eight South Bay schools will participate in the show, titled […]
Storm water tossed out on the street sewer
by Dan Blackburn A controversial stormwater capture project under the Hermosa Beach Greenbelt in south Hermosa has been scrapped, but a smaller, unrelated “porous pavement” drainage system is now under consideration. The smaller system would be installed on the streets between 6th Street, and Herondo Avenue on the north and south; and Monterrey Boulevard and […]
City Clerk Ed Sarmiento leaves for home
by Dan Blackburn Eduardo Sarmiento, Hermosa Beach’s first appointed Hermosa Beach city clerk, is leaving after 18 months for a similar position in Huntington Park. Sarmiento’s last day is Nov. 4. “I wasn’t able to see my son, who is almost three, as much as I wanted,” he told ER, attributing that to the hour-plus […]
Downtown made scapegoat for PD injuries, bar owner contends
by Dan Blackburn A City of Hermosa Beach press release issued after the Halloween weekend, and headlined, “Four Hermosa Police Officers Injured During Arrests of Subjects Believed To Be Intoxicated,” was “purposely deceptive and intended to smear the downtown business community,” contends Greg Newman, owner of Sharkeez, Palmilla and Tower 12, all on Pier Plaza. […]
Ice rink, without the cold, snow lodge but no snow for Hermosa holidays
By Dan Blackburn “Hermosa for the Holidays” plans were outlined by the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce officials this week. The centerpiece of the Nov. 19 — 21 weekend festivities will be a 1,500 square foot, synthetic “ice” rink, on Pier Plaza, in front of Hennessey’s Tavern. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for […]
Business surveillance camera leads Hermosa Police to murder suspect in Woods death
by Dan Blackburn Surveillance video captured the fatal beating July 3 of Hermosa Beach resident Jeffery Roderick Woods, and provided evidence which helped investigators identify the now-jailed murder suspect, a sheriff’s official confirmed this week. Woods, 50, was involved in what Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Hugo Reynaga described as “an altercation” shortly after midnight […]
Post pandemic dining, traffic, to be reviewed by Hermosa Beach city staff
by Dan Blackburn Council Member Mike Detoy said outdoor dining “has been a lifeline to our restaurants.” Council member Mary Campbell said, “This is just a start of how good this could become.” But following a lengthy discussion at Tuesday evenings council meeting, the council asked staff to review what City environmental Programs Manager Doug […]
State of the City is good, getting better, Mayor Masey says in talk
by Dan Blackburn During his State of the City address last Wednesday in the city council chambers, Hermosa Beach Mayor Justin Massey compared the impact the pandemic has had on the city to the impact it has had on private businesses, by stating, “We have been focused on keeping the lights on, continuing to provide […]
Students recovered from COVID return on day of mandate protest
by Dan Blackburn Five students at Hermosa Valley School tested positive for COVID-19 last week and were quarantined, according to a school official, bringing to 12 the number of district cases since the September start of classes. Hermosa Beach City School District Superintendent Jason Johnson reported the most recent outbreak was contained to one, upper […]
Suspect arrested in death of Hermosa Beach resident Jeff Woods
by Dan Blackburn A 23-year-old San Diego man has been arrested and charged in the July death of Hermosa Beach resident Jeffrey Roderick Woods. Joshua Dirnu was taken into custody Tuesday without incident by officers of the Carlsbad Police Department. He remains in jail awaiting trial. According to Hermosa Beach police Sgt. Mick Gaglia, Woods, […]
Reimagined Hermosa Beach Fiesta praised by residents, businesses, future direction undecided
by Dan Blackburn A modified and more compact Fiesta Hermosa Locale earned mixed but largely favorable reviews over the Labor Day weekend, Chamber of Commerce president Jessica Accamando told the Hermosa Beach City Council Tuesday. Accamando also told council members that Chamber officials have not yet decided if the abbreviated version of the festival will […]
Wiseburn student voter registration at top, PV’s near bottom
by Dan Blackburn Wiseburn Unified, which straddles El Segundo and Hawthorne, has the highest percentage of high school students registered to vote, among Los Angeles County’s 53 school districts, according to a survey released Monday by the Civics Center foundation. Civics Center found that 90 percent of Wiseburn’s students who are eligible to vote are […]